Question Summary:
Can the wife inherit the whole house upon the death of the husband?

Question Detail:

assalam - o - alaikum, 
                                 i am currently writing my will and have followed shariah ruling of splitting my assets at my death. my wife is opposing the idea of splitting our only house as per the recomended split between my parents and three kids and her.
she has willingly spent on the house and carried out renovation, approximatley 15,000 gbp ( house valued at 220, 000). she is suggesting she is an equal partner in the house and should recive it fully on my death. 
I have paid all mortage payments, bills and upkeeping of the house since its purchase date.
Can you please advise what i need to do ( rewrite the will and giver her a set percentage on top of her shariah share or give her the amount or advise her that money was spent as per her will??) 
Please advise 

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
 
In principle, if your wife contributed 15,000 GBP for renovations in your house, that does not make her a shareholder of the house. The house belongs to you. If you are survived by your parents, wife, and three children, the house will belong to each one of them in proportion to their share of inheritance. However, you may consider selling the entire house, or a portion of the house (e.g. 50%), to her for a nominal amount. In that case she would be the owner of the house. You may also gift her the entire house, or a portion of the house (e.g. 50%), to her. If you predecease her, she would inherit 1/8 of your portion and could pay out the other heirs and become the sole owner at that stage. You may adopt any one of the above suggestions according to your personal circumstances.
 
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Abdullah ibn Mohammed Aijaz
Student Darul Iftaa
Baltimore, USA 
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.